The use of manipulatives has recently been a focus of student education because of the added sensory element to the learning process. It has been found that, by allowing students to include a “hands on” approach, manipulatives provide for learning at an accelerated pace, with greater retention.
These educational manipulatives have taken many forms. One such manipulative is a multiplication board with indents or cups that hold beads placed in each indent to designate the area below one component number being multiplied and to the right of the other component number being multiplied. The answer to the multiplication problem is, of course, the number of beads in the indents.
The multiplication board has a place marker for one component that merely lays on the flat surface of the board, subject to inadvertent movement. The other component is designated by inserting a written designation of the component into a slot, to be viewed by the student, without regard to the location of the component on a row of numbered rows on the board.
A division board is similarly known, where place markers are intended to reside in indentations below a row of numbers that act as the numerator. A student places markers equal in number to the numerator of a problem in the indentations, obscuring the numbers in the row of numbers from view by the student, and counts out beads equal to the denominator. The student places the beads into indents in the columns below the numerator markers and the number of rows they evenly fill is the answer, with remainders noted.
A manipulative is also known in the prior art for addition. In this device, the board is in the form of a matrix with numbers increasing in one direction rather than two, and a plurality of rows beneath the numbers sectioned into squares below the numbers. The student starts with a flat marker corresponding in length to the first component and places that below the row of numbers. The student then places another flat marker corresponding in length to the second component next to the first marker. The total is shown on the row of numbers at the top.
The prior art addition board includes a line running across the plurality of rows at the number ten so that combinations of components equaling ten can be arranged in the rows beneath the numbers.
Similarly, a subtraction manipulative board includes a matrix with a row of numbers and a plurality of rows beneath. The student uses a marker to block out the numbers in the row of numbers at the top to expose only up to the starting component. The student then takes a marker having a length corresponding to the number of the second component in the subtraction problem and places it below the row of numbers, with the training end starting at the marker blocking out the row of numbers. The answer is where the marker below the row of numbers ends.
However, students have some difficulty in placing and keeping the beads in the proper indents and the flat markers on the boards. The beads can fall out of the particular indents if the student placing additional beads into the indents or removing an improperly placed bead jars the board. The flat markers have a tendency to slide on the flat boards. Additionally, the prior art manipulative boards must be used on a steady flat surface or the beads will slip out of the indents.
Another deficiency of the prior art manipulatives is in the area of dealing with the problem that the student does not include a correspondence with the components of the problem being solved. Prior art devices seeking to ensure that the student is reminded of the component or components of the problem are deficient in using indicators merely placed near one of the components with the other reminder not being associated near the area corresponding to the component number.
As such, the indicators have the tendency to unintentionally move from the position of the component number desired to another number or to an area between numbers, so that the student does not have an accurate indication of the component number intended.
Additionally, the prior art manipulative boards do not include a space associated with the board for storing the beads or makers when not in use. As such, the beads or markers can become lost and unavailable to the student when needed.
Based on the prior mathematic manipulatives known, there is a need for an improved manipulative which is more user friendly, especially for younger students.